Equity investment in European biotechnology firms engaged in therapeutic discovery and development continued its downward slide during the third quarter. The total for the period, $1.106 billion, is down 39% on the second quarter of this year and down 41% on Q3 2021. The ongoing weakness of the public markets is the main driver of the trend. In Q3, listed firms raised little more than half of what they managed in Q1 of this year, while the IPO window remains firmly closed. At present, the sector is bumping along at investment levels last seen about five years ago.
A strong third quarter has pushed biopharma financings ahead of several pre-pandemic years, as follow-on offerings and private placements picked up the pace. IPOs and venture capital rounds dipped below prior quarters, but the overall amount raised so far this year has placed 2022 as the fifth best financing year among the last 10, ahead of both 2019 and 2017.
Western Australia’s private investment group Tattarang has launched a new AU$250 million (US$173.6 million) investment fund called Tenmile that will invest in early stage Australian biotech and med-tech companies. One of Australia’s largest private investment groups, Tattarang is owned by the Forrest family and has five business divisions made up of real estate, agriculture, energy, mining and hospitality.
Growing the international competitiveness of Taiwan’s biotech sector is one of six key strategies Taiwan’s government is heavily invested in, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told attendees via video during the recent BIO Asia-Taiwan conference in Taipei.
Western Australia’s private investment group Tattarang has launched a new AU$250 million (US$173.6 million) investment fund called Tenmile that will invest in early stage Australian biotech and med-tech companies. One of Australia’s largest private investment groups, Tattarang is owned by the Forrest family and has five business divisions made up of real estate, agriculture, energy, mining and hospitality.
Growing the international competitiveness of Taiwan’s biotech sector is one of six key strategies Taiwan’s government is heavily invested in, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen told attendees via video during the recent BIO Asia-Taiwan conference in Taipei.
Amounts raised through biopharma financings in the second quarter are down by 61% since last year and are at the lowest point since 2017. The same holds true when looking at the first half of the year. Each of the prior four years raised more than this year by the end of June, signifying that investors are backing up after an intensely robust financing environment following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the feverish biopharma therapeutic and vaccine development that began in 2020.
European biotechnology firms engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutics raised up to $2.15 billion in disclosed equity transactions during the second quarter, a drop of 36% on the same period of 2021. The closure of the IPO window was a major factor in the decline, but the completion of two sizeable special purpose acquisition company deals made up some of the shortfall. Listed firms raised slightly more in Q2 2022 than they did in the same period last year. Venture capital, although the single biggest source of equity funding during the quarter, was also down on the same period last year.
Quoted European tech investor Gimv is setting up an independent life sciences arm and said it will increase both the size of its investments and the number of companies it backs.
At the annual Biomed Israel conference, held in Tel Aviv, Eyal Lifschitz, co-founder of Israeli venture capital fund Peregrine Venture, urged entrepreneurs to adapt their business strategy or face a long, difficult road to exit. With strategic companies increasingly favoring companies later in development, Lifschitz advised innovators to expand their vision beyond the traditional buyers.
